


Glowing Red

by doitsushine92



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: A/B/O, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Demons, M/M, Magic, black magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:49:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10802079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doitsushine92/pseuds/doitsushine92
Summary: Junmyeon summons Baekhyun on instinct.





	Glowing Red

**Author's Note:**

> To the mods, congrats on a successful round! To the prompter, I hope you like this, even if it isn't exactly what you asked.

The moonlight and the crows accompanied Junmyeon during his stroll through the woods. The forest was dark; it always was, especially during that time of the year. A howl echoed in the air, and Junmyeon only shuffled forward faster, burrowing further in his coat, rubbing his hands together to keep warm. No matter how well he got along with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, most werewolves didn’t like warlocks all that much.

He had dreamt about it that same night, waking up in a cold sweat to see it was barely past midnight. Junmyeon had dragged Jongdae out of his cocoon of blankets that the boy had been using as substitutes for Chanyeol to tell him about it, and his roommate had sighed dramatically before pushing Junmyeon out the door with a pat on his bum and an encouraging mumble of “Go get ‘em, hyung.”

Junmyeon walked for close to an hour, the full moon his guide. A fox leaped past him, obviously running away from something, urging Junmyeon to pick up his pace while fixing the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. Further ahead, he could see the clearing, the tricky forest giving way to soft grass and running water. Beds of lilies greeted Junmyeon as he staggered through the weeds, hissing when a thorn bush pricked him in the calf. 

The cave was exactly where Junmyeon had seen in his dream, hidden behind the curtain of waterfall. And as expected, the grimoire was buried deep in the dirt, bound with locks. Junmyeon owned his own grimoire already, but he knew better than to ignore his dreams. Another howl ripped through the air, sending shivers down Junmyeon’s back. 

Junmyeon picked up the grimoire and stuffed it as best as he could inside his backpack. He heaved it over his shoulders and raced his way back home.

-

“What is that?” Jongdae deadpanned, staring at the book in Junmyeon’s hands. The warlock ignored him, dropping the grimoire in their kitchen table and staring at it. Jongdae moved to stand next to him, hands on his hips, yet his eyes weren’t on the book but on his roommate.

“You brought a grimoire, bound in chains, which you found because your dreams showed you where it was?” Jongdae asked, more urgent this time. Jongdae hated Junmyeon’s dreams, more than he hated Yixing’s pep talks. Junmyeon hated Jongdae’s accusing tone.

“Yes,” Junmyeon said simply.

“You brought a grimoire, bound in chains, which you found because your dreams showed you where it was, into our house?” Jongdae’s voice was getting higher. 

Junmyeon sighed and then gave him a look. “I literally woke you up hours ago to tell you about it and you gave me your blessing. You have no right to be mad at me.”

Jongdae stared at him some more, then sighed and grumbled, “I hope you get killed by whatever you summon.”

“I’m not going to summon anything,” Junmyeon argued, but he couldn’t be sure. His grandmother was a banshee and his mother was a physic, so he had inherited some sort of foreshadowing talent; mostly, he could tell when it was going to rain or whether to take the highway or not, but he had learnt not to ignore his instincts.

Jongdae sighed again, turned on his heels and wandered back to his room where he knew Junmyeon wouldn’t go because the warlock hated the smell of iron. Jongdae was a necromancer, and he lived up to the part of crypt keeper with his room looking like a cemetery and the smell of rotten flesh it sometimes exuded.

Junmyeon felt his stomach twist and churn as he stared at the grimoire; his mind raced while he tried to come up with a reason that would explain what was going on. He couldn’t explain it, but he could tell there was a strong reason why he’d dreamt about the grimoire. 

However, it was almost dawn and Junmyeon hadn’t slept all night, so he decided to solve this one mystery after taking a nap.

-

Junmyeon woke up to Jongdae screaming. Now, because yelling and whining were Jongdae’s way of communicating, he wouldn’t have found it worrying on a regular day, but Jongdae sounded more on the frantic scale of things, so Junmyeon forced himself to kick off the covers and stride out of his room. He found his roommate pinned to the couch underneath a half shifted Chanyeol, Kyungsoo looking on with amusement from the stove. Chanyeol was eagerly licking Jongdae’s face, his fangs glistening in the daylight. 

“Shouldn’t you help him?” Junmyeon asked Kyungsoo, but the werewolf merely shrugged. Meanwhile, Jongdae was trying his best to stop Chanyeol from lifting his shirt in the middle of the living room. Chanyeol’s tail kept wagging side to side, not paying any heed to Jongdae’s grumbles of, “Not here, Yeol, come on, bad boy.”

“That really doesn’t help,” Kyungsoo drawled.

Chanyeol whined low on his throat, pushing his face into Jongdae’s chest, but his claws were starting to retreat back into his hands and his ears were shrinking. Jongdae gave Kyungsoo a superior look, which he returned with an eye roll.  
Finally, Chanyeol was looking human again. 

Jongdae scoffed at the guilty look his boyfriend gave him, but accepted the silent sorry anyway. “I thought the full moon didn’t affect you the day after,” Jongdae said, carding his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair.

“Usually, it doesn’t,” Chanyeol answered. His deep voice was hoarse.

“So? What’s the deal?” Jongdae questioned further. Chanyeol pondered for a moment, but shrugged in the end.

“Junmyeon hyung,” Kyungsoo called him, a frown on his face, “Jongdae told us about your dream and the grimoire.” Kyungsoo looked worried, Junmyeon noted; his dongsaeng took premonitions very seriously. 

“Yeah, but its fine,” Junmyeon assured him, not so sure himself. After a not-so-refreshing sleep, he still had no idea why he’d dreamt about the grimoire or what he was supposed to do with it.

“Can we see it?” Chanyeol asked. Jongdae groaned in despair. Junmyeon nodded.

The grimoire was where he’d left it, under his bed. Chanyeol pounced on him when Junmyeon brought it out, pouted when he saw the chains. 

However, it didn’t deter him from taking it out of Junmyeon’s hands, turning it over in his own as he walked to sit on the couch. Chanyeol had always been fascinated by magic, something Junmyeon found endearing. Kyungsoo, however, tried to stay far away from them whenever they worked with it. Even now, the wolf was backing away into the kitchen, butcher knife held in front of him as protection.

Chanyeol looked at the grimoire in amazement, as if he’d never seen something so incredible, a look he usually reserved for Jongdae and, on occasion, Kyungsoo’s food. Jongdae gave the book a nonchalant look, but Junmyeon could recognize the spark of intrigue in his eyes. 

“Have you at least figured out how to open it?” Jongdae asked. 

“I wish,” Junmyeon grumbled. He felt lost, not knowing what was going on with his life at the moment. 

“Maybe you could try to break the chains,” Chanyeol suggested, giving said confinements a tug. Junmyeon considered it for a moment, then, deciding there was nothing to lose, ventured into Jongdae’s room.

He knew his roommate kept a chainsaw somewhere in there, for whenever he had to cut bones, and it didn’t take him too long to find it, buried under piles of clothes on a chair. 

Junmyeon carried it to the living room, where Jongdae tried to look outraged but couldn’t, and Kyungsoo was still holding the knife while peering curiously at the grimoire.

“Give me that,” Jongdae said exasperatedly, motioning for the chainsaw, “You could hurt yourself.”

“I know how to use a chainsaw,” Junmyeon pouted, but gave Jongdae the tool anyway.

“No, you don’t.”

Jongdae got to work on the chains; they gave out easily, and under two minutes they fell on a heap to the floor. The apartment grew silent as they stared at the grimoire; now that it was free, Junmyeon started to feel nervous. Most of the time, these books were harmless, but some would have such deep magic, it wasn’t safe to have them lying around; hence the protective chains.

Kyungsoo shuffled forward carefully and nudged the grimoire with a finger, then leaped back as if burnt. 

“It… feels hot,” Kyungsoo murmured, looking at the book with accusing eyes.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Junmyeon frowned, “I just touched it and it was cool.”

Just as he started to lean forward, the book started to radiate a soft light. Junmyeon watched in amazement as the light began to glow brighter and brighter, until it was too brilliant to look at and they all covered their eyes. 

As soon as it started, the light went out and they lowered their hands to gape; the grimoire was now opened to a page in the middle.

The content was in English, the handwriting cursive and intricate, but the title was easy enough for Junmyeon to understand.

“Demon summoning,” Jongdae read out loud, looking at Junmyeon with wide accusing eyes. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Junmyeon scoffed, “I’ve seen you bring skeletons to life to do your house chores. It’s like living in a scene of Disney Fantasia.”

“Are you gonna do it?” Chanyeol inquired curiously, “I’ve never seen a demon before.”  
“You don’t want to,” Kyungsoo grumbled, wolf ears suddenly on his head. Junmyeon reached out a hand to scratch behind Kyungsoo’s ears; Kyungsoo’s posture relaxed as he sighed.

Junmyeon thought about Chanyeol’s question; he could summon a demon, he knew the risks and the procedures and the precautions to take. Junmyeon just wasn’t sure whether or not he should do it. On one hand, his dream had been eating at the back of his mind the entire night and day, and he’d be damned if he were to ignore his instincts. On the other hand, summoning a demon was more than dangerous and he wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

“It says here,” Jongdae snapped him out of his thoughts, “that in order to use this ritual, you need the demon’s real name to call him out, not to mention to keep him in control.”

“How am I supposed to find out a demon’s real name?” Junmyeon asked incredulously.

“Don’t worry, I know a guy,” Jongdae waved him off.

They all stared at him.

“You know a guy?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yeah.”

“What guy?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Another warlock.”

“And he just happens to have a list of demons lying around his home?” Junmyeon asked.

“Well, not exactly like that,” Jongdae rolled his eyes, “He can communicate with the death, and I know for a fact he can get you any information through his army of ghost minions.”

“Ghost minions,” Kyungsoo mouthed at Junmyeon.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about this,” Chanyeol said.

“It’s a good thing you’re not going, then,” Jongdae shrugged. 

“Why?” Chanyeol asked, looking at Jongdae like a kicked puppy. Jongdae usually let Chanyeol hang off him whenever he did something that involved magic, so to hear that Jongdae wouldn’t let him go with him this time broke his heart.

“Reasons,” Jongdae mumbled, not looking at him. 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. “You reek of guilt, why is that?”

Jongdae’s eyes widened, looking between Chanyeol and Kyungsoo wildly. The shorter werewolf nodded his head, indicating he smelt it too. It seemed like Jongdae made up his mind, because he sighed and said, “The guy is my ex, that’s why I don’t want you to go. You just get so jealous!” he rushed to explain.

Junmyeon and Kyungsoo took that as their cue to leave, Junmyeon collecting the grimoire in his hands and taking it to his room, followed closely by Kyungsoo. They shut the door behind them just as Chanyeol’s voice escalated and they stared at each other with wide eyes before identical grins split across their faces.

“This is hilarious,” Kyungsoo declared.

Junmyeon nodded with mirth, putting the book on his bed. 

A thought occurred to him. 

“Kyungsoo yah,” Junmyeon thought, “Weren’t you cooking something?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened for the nth time that day, and he scrambled out of the room just in time to hear the loud boom go off from their kitchen.

-

The next week Jongdae led Junmyeon to a nice neighbourhood in Itaewon where they were supposed to meet this warlock.

“His name’s Minseok,” Jongdae informed him as they rounded the corner. Junmyeon let his eyes wander around, trailing over the two-story houses and neat gardens as he hummed in acknowledgment. “He’s a little shy, so don’t be alarmed if he doesn’t meet your eyes.”

The house they stopped at was small, more of a cottage but with certain charm, like the kind of homes you would find in fairy tales. It was further down the street from the other houses, surrounded by tall trees in the front yard and pretty flowers lead the way to the door. It was a really nice place, in Junmyeon’s opinion.  
Jongdae knocked on the door and less than a minute later a short guy in gym trunks and a tee opened it. The man in front of them looked startled when he saw them but put on a smile anyway.

“Jongdae, what are you doing here?” the man asked. Junmyeon guessed this was Minseok.

“Minseok, it's been a while,” Jongdae greeted. Junmyeon would have snorted at his attempt of sounding nonchalant if it weren’t so awkward.

“Uh, come in,” Minseok moved aside to let them in, shutting the door behind them. The cottage smelled like cinnamon and a little mint.

Minseok cleared his throat. “So, who’s this?” he asked in a curious tone.

“This is Junmyeon, my roommate. Jun, this is Minseok, the warlock I told you about.”

“Hi,” Junmyeon said awkwardly, extending his hand for Minseok to shake. Minseok had a firm grip.

Junmyeon explained to Minseok what was going on, starting from Junmyeon’s history with premonitions to his dream to the glowing lights. Somewhere between finding the grimoire and bringing it home, a cherub-like man came out of the bedroom and introduced himself as Lu Han, Minseok’s incubus. Junmyeon noticed how some of the tension was gone from Jongdae’s shoulders. By the end of the story, Lu Han got himself comfortable in Minseok’s lap; the warlock looked ashamed, Lu Han was shameless and Jongdae was mildly amused.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t see where I fit in all of this,” Minseok said confusedly.

“Ah, here’s where I come in,” Jongdae said, “Minseok ah, remember when you made friends with those ghosts at the old manor in Incheon? They said you could ask for any favours.”

Minseok nodded. “Well, we need a favour. Junmyeon here won’t live in peace if he doesn’t go along with the grimoire but this spell needs a specific name. So maybe you could ask those ghosts if they know of any harmless demon out there.”

“I know someone,” Lu Han said then. Junmyeon looked at him with hope. “He’s a demon, works in administration and hates it there. We’ve met a couple times through some common friends.”

“Great! What’s his name?” Junmyeon asked eagerly.

Lu Han smiled. “I won’t tell you that yet. Not until you promise me something.”

Junmyeon’s smile wavered but nodded. “Don’t send him back unless you absolutely have to. As in, he either asks to be sent back or he does something really bad, like kill someone or spill coffee on my shirt.”

Well, that doesn’t sound so bad, Junmyeon thought. “Ok, I promise."

Lu Han’s smile widened. After the incubus gave Junmyeon a name, they said goodbye; Jongdae thanked Minseok once more before walking out the door. After they were far enough, Junmyeon said, “I can’t believe your ex is dating an incubus.”

“Me neither,” Jongdae widened his eyes, “But he didn’t seem harmful. Besides, Minseok is a tough guy, and he doesn’t just trust anyone.”

“I hope so,” Junmyeon sighed, “I liked him; it’d be a shame to go to his funeral.”

-

Junmyeon got to work that same weekend; he sent Jongdae to a long sleepover with Chanyeol without much protest, made sure to have flowers and cookies delivered to Kyungsoo in apology and took a whole day off to demon-proof his apartment.

Lu Han had assured him this demon – Baekhyun – was harmless as a demon, but dangerous with his tongue. Junmyeon wasn’t sure what that meant, but as long as he didn’t try to fry Junmyeon, all was fine. He’d once met a demon called Zitao that seemed harmless but ended up karate chopping him when Junmyeon accidentally dropped a pot next to him and the kid got scared. 

Could you even call a demon a kid?

When the sun went down, Junmyeon stood on a protective circle in his living room and got to work on the preparative. Looking around, Junmyeon could see where Hollywood got the idea; candles around him, runes on the floor… it looked like the set of a really bad horror movie.

The spell was simple enough, and minutes later Junmyeon was standing in front of a naked demon. The boy facing him was about the same height as him, with broad shoulders and thin waist, thick thighs and nice looking set of abs. His eyes reminded Junmyeon of a puppy.

“Um, hi,” Junmyeon started slowly. The demon simply stared at him with his blood red eyes. It was unnerving.

Junmyeon racked his brain; this was the first time a demon didn’t try to talk his head off; Zitao had tried to get Junmyeon to break him loose so they could go shopping. At least Junmyeon wasn’t feeling threatened yet, which was good.

“I’m Junmyeon,” he continued, “And you may have noticed that I summoned you.”

The demon snorted. “Clearly,” he said. He had a nice voice.

“Right.”

Cue awkward silence. The demon kept looking at Junmyeon with interest, as if he had never seen something quite so fascinating. “So, how did you get my name?” he asked, “I mean, I’m not exactly famous. I just handle paperwork.”

“Naked?” Junmyeon couldn’t help but blurt out. He hadn’t meant to, but Baekhyun’s lack of clothing had surprised him. 

“Not usually, but you did catch me on a bad time, you know?”

“Right, uh, sorry about that."

“No hard feelings.”

“And to answer your question, I got it from an incubus named Lu Han.”

At the mention of Lu Han, Baekhyun’s red eyes glowed momentarily as he growled. “Lu Han? Seriously?”

“Are you not friends with him?” Junmyeon inquired timidly. Lu Han had said they were and he seemed so trustworthy.

“I wouldn’t say so. In fact, give me five minutes with the little slut in a locked room,” Baekhyun definitely didn’t seem like he was friends with Lu Han.

“I’m sorry then,” Junmyeon said, “My mistake. If you wish, I can send you back -”

“Nah,” Baekhyun declined, “I like you, I think I’m gonna stay here for a while.”

-

‘For a while’ turned into two weeks and then two months. In the meantime, he’d discovered that while having a demon around could be very helpful at times, it was a terrible idea to get him together with Jongdae and Chanyeol. Those two immediately attached themselves to him, making Junmyeon’s life near impossible.

They were all just so loud. One time Junmyeon was trying to work on a paper for his class and he couldn’t concentrate on the title of his assignment because they were in the living room, teaching Baekhyun all about the wonders of Guitar Hero. 

Because Baekhyun hadn’t been on Earth for hundreds of years, not since Columbus first arrived to America, he didn’t know about phones or internet or television or music or electricity or running water or peanut butter. It was sad, really. Junmyeon found it amusing how curious he was about things, like computers. Baekhyun made it his mission to watch every movie he could while he was on Earth, so Junmyeon promised to watch at least one movie with him every day during the week, and then three or even four on the weekends. 

However, Baekhyun still found books more entertaining than dramas; Junmyeon had spent every night with a tiny night light on so Baekhyun could read. They were attached by a small spell Junmyeon casted the day he summoned the demon, they slept on the same bed and Baekhyun was even enrolled at Junmyeon’s college and attended his lectures with him. 

Nothing was more adorable than Baekhyun very confused over trigonometry. 

-

Junmyeon trudged through the snow with hurries steps, accidentally bumping into people every now and then. The Christmas season had always been Junmyeon’s favourite, and this year was no different, especially when he had Baekhyun waiting for him at home. He and Chanyeol were decorating the apartment while Kyungsoo cooked dinner and Jongdae was out with Junmyeon shopping for presents. This year, they were going to celebrate together, because Kyungsoo had just recently broken up with Jongin and wasn’t quite ready to face his pack; relationships were taken very seriously between werewolves. 

“Do you think Chanyeol will like it?” Jongdae asked nervously as they waited at the bus stop. The bags around them were overflowing with numerous presents for their friends, and those were just the ones they bought; the other three had already gone shopping, Baekhyun with the help of Kyungsoo. 

“Of course he will,” Junmyeon replied absentmindedly, “He loves those chewing toys.”

“Yah!”

Junmyeon laughed even as he was shoved by Jongdae; a few years back Jongdae had given Chanyeol a rubber bone to chew on, like the ones you would give a regular dog, and Junmyeon was never letting him live that down. Even if Chanyeol did like to play with it when in his wolf form.

“But seriously though,” Jongdae looked up with a pout, “I really think he’ll like those caps. He’s always shopping for snapbacks and I know for a fact he doesn’t have those.”

“For a fact?” Jongdae asked, gathering the bags at their feet so they could board the bus.

“I may have sneaked into their apartment and snooped around his closet,” Junmyeon admitted, “By the way, nice sex toys.”

-

Baekhyun wearing a Christmas hat while he chewed on gingerbread cookies was the cutest thing Junmyeon had seen in his life. Chanyeol tackled his boyfriend to the ground as soon as they made it through the door, and while Junmyeon was able to sidestep and avoid becoming collateral damage, he couldn’t save himself from the hug Baekhyun gave him. It seemed like he was beginning to take after Chanyeol’s affectionate ways, because he was becoming clingier by the day.

“Look,” Baekhyun said excitedly, “I decorated our room, too!”

Junmyeon was lead by the hand to his room where Baekhyun had put up Christmas lights and a tiny, table tree. There was even miniature sized presents under the tree.

“It looks great, Baek,” Junmyeon said sincerely, “Thank you.”

Baekhyun beamed so hard his face nearly fell off. Back in the living room, Chanyeol was helping Jongdae arrange the presents while Kyungsoo put the table. This would also be Baekhyun’s first Christmas in the modern world, so Junmyeon was Very Excited™. 

“Why don’t we eat and then open presents?” Jongdae suggested, camera in hand as he took pictures of the decorations.

“Shouldn’t we open the gifts at midnight?” Baekhyun asked; head tilted in confusion. He looks so much like a puppy, Junmyeon thought.

“Yeah,” Jongdae nodded, “But I kind of have something planned for midnight.”

Junmyeon wasn’t all that into plans made by Jongdae, but he figured, why not go along with him this one time? It was Christmas, anyway. 

Dinner was delicious, obviously. Chanyeol made it very clear, licking his cutlery once he was done and rubbing his head on top of Kyungsoo’s. Kyungsoo seemed proud of himself even as he batted away his packmate, and Baekhyun looked absolutely delighted when he got to eat the pie.   
Presents were next; Junmyeon let Baekhyun sit as close as humanly possible to him. Chanyeol was very pleased with Jongdae’s gift for him, much to the necromancer’s relief. Junmyeon gave Baekhyun a collection of books, all hand picked by himself on the one subject the demon had shown most inclination to: fantasy. Books about fairies, vampires, even demons. Baekhyun was enraptured by the genre; he seemed fascinated by the human’s conception of their world. It wasn’t their fault they were so blind to what was around them, though. Baekhyun hugged Junmyeon real tight after he opened the box and started reading almost immediately.

“So, Dae,” Junmyeon said, clock nearing midnight, “What did you have planned?”

Chanyeol was curled up on the floor with Kyungsoo, watching 'Krampus' for the thousandth time, Baekhyun not too far from them with his head buried in one of his new books. Jongdae and Junmyeon were in the kitchen, drinking eggnog from mugs while wearing horrible Christmas sweaters Junmyeon had personally sewn; he was perfectly aware they were ugly, but he would go to any length to see Jongdae uncomfortably trying to make him happy.

"I was thinking about taking Baekhyun up to the rooftop so he can see the fireworks," Jongdae whispered, casting glances at where the demon was peacefully unaware of their conversation, "Figured it'd be a good place for you to man up and kiss him."

Junmyeon gave him an ‘are you crazy’ look that didn’t quite match with what he was actually thinking. Baekhyun had been in his mind for a long time now; it started out as a simple infatuation, but with time it evolved into something more. He couldn’t help but reach out for him whenever the red-eyed demon was near, found everything he did either completely adorable or insanely attractive. Junmyeon had it bad, and he couldn’t even be surprised that Jongdae knew. 

“What are you talking about?” he still tried to deny it, because what the hell?

Jongdae narrowed his eyes, judging him and his terrible acting skills. “Jun, it’s me. You can’t lie to me. As a matter of fact, you can’t lie to anyone.”

“Shut up,” the warlock grumbled. In the living room, Chanyeol was whining at Kyungsoo to give him back the remote. The two packmates began play wrestling on the floor, much to Baekhyun’s entertainment; Junmyeon watched him with fondness as he tucked his legs underneath himself to avoid the flailing limbs on the floor while giggling. Jongdae followed his line of vision and then looked back at him with a smile. 

“Why haven’t you said anything to him?”

“Because,” Junmyeon said, “He doesn’t feel the same and I don’t feel like hating myself for driving him away.”

“You are so stupid,” Jongdae laughed, “You actually think he doesn’t feel the same way? Have you seen the way he looks at you?”

Junmyeon shook his head, dumbfounded. In that second, Baekhyun looked up and met eyes with him; the demon smiled brightly at him. Junmyeon returned the smile, albeit shakier, and then groaned when Jongdae smirked.

“Shut up,” he said once more.

-

They moved the party to the rooftop at exactly five minutes to midnight. Chanyeol was the first to burst through the doors, an equally excited Baekhyun behind him. Kyungsoo trailed after them with an amused smile, and finally the two roommates. 

When the fireworks went off, Baekhyun gasped in amazement and clutched Junmyeon’s arm. He was bouncing up and down excitedly, watching the show with rapt attention. The others were viewing the sky too, but Junmyeon was more preoccupied with Baekhyun; the shape of his eyes, his button nose, the curve of his mouth, his sharp jawline, the broadness of his shoulders. His appearance was a contradiction, but Junmyeon thought he was breathtaking.

Maybe it was the eggnog. Maybe it was the scenery, or Jongdae’s nagging voice at the back of his head. Most likely, it was the simple beauty in front of him that had Junmyeon leaning down to kiss Baekhyun. 

The demon gasped when their lips came in contact, and Junmyeon was afraid for a millisecond that Jongdae was wrong or playing a mean prank on him and Baekhyun didn’t feel the same. He almost pulled apart, but then the hand on his arm tightened and Baekhyun searched Junmyeon’s lips with his, and then they were properly kissing. It was fantastic; Baekhyun’s mouth was soft and pliant, and even if Junmyeon could feel their friends’ eyes on them, he didn’t pay any heed.

When they pulled apart, Baekhyun’s eyes glowed red and his smile was brilliant. Junmyeon was so in love it was almost painful.

-

If Junmyeon thought Baekhyun wearing a Christmas hat while eating gingerbread cookies was the most adorable thing he had seen, he was certainly swallowing his words now; Baekhyun curled up to him, pout in place as he snored softly was the best sight in the world. Baekhyun always slept in his bed, but on the opposite side with his own pillow and blanket. Last night, however, Baekhyun slithered his way to Junmyeon until he was snuggled under his arm and fell asleep right there.

Junmyeon was supposed to get up early to work on his shift at the convenience store, but he honestly didn’t have the heart to wake him up, so he simply snuggled closer to Baekhyun and went back to sleep.

-

“I don’t want to go back to hell,” Baekhyun announced one afternoon. They were sitting in the dining table, where Jongdae had set up a knitting kit and was working on making a new sweater for his friend Sehun’s birthday, another wolf from Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s pack. Junmyeon, on the other hand, was making a grand effort not to coo at Baekhyun; the red-eyed boy had been tasked with holding the yarn and was currently attempting to detangle himself from its clutches.

“Really?” Chanyeol asked eagerly, taking his eyes off the telly. The two of them had grown closer over time, close enough for Junmyeon to suspect that Kyungsoo was feeling left out. But the younger wolf never said anything or hinted at feeling jealous, and the warlock knew better than to question him about it unless he wanted to get sharp claws digging into his neck.

The demon nodded, eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he freed one hand from the yarn. Kyungsoo, still in the kitchen, didn’t seem so happy about the news. “Why wouldn’t you want to go back home?” he asked, to which Baekhyun shrugged.

“It’s not home,” he said simply, “I hate that place; it’s hot all the time, everyone is mean and angry and I don’t even have a cool job! It’s just administration and let me tell you, everytime a good soul gets tangled with a bad one – and that happens more often than I would care for – the paperwork I have to do is a nightmare.”

“And you’re sure about this?” Jongdae asked worriedly. Jongdae was always worrying about everyone, even more than Junmyeon; he was like a mother hen in that sense.

Baekhyun nodded firmly. Junmyeon hadn’t said anything throughout the exchange because he wasn’t sure what to say; if he agreed, it would be selfish. He wanted Baekhyun to stay on Earth with him, but he couldn’t be sure he was the reason why the demon refused to go. And if he questioned his decision, he risked hurting his feelings.

So Junmyeon stayed quiet; he didn’t join in to Chanyeol and Jongdae’s cheering, nor did he attempt to smile like Kyungsoo. But when Baekhyun turned to look at him with hope and apprehension in his blood-like eyes, he couldn’t help the warmth flooding through his heart.

-

THREE YEARS LATER

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Junmyeon asked as he bouncedhis knee up and down. Jongdae gave him a look.

“Dude, this is the best idea you’ve had in years,” he laughed. Junmyeon knew he was right, but it didn’t make him any less nervous.

“And you’re sure this won’t ruin your special night?” he added. Jongdae clapped him on the back and nodded again.

“It’ll only make it even better,” Jongdae assured him. truth be told, Junmyeon was freaking out on the inside, because this was probably the biggest step in his life and he didn’t want to ruin it, but he also knew he’d hate himself forever if he didn’t do it. 

Just then, Baekhyun and Chanyeol returned from the bathroom, laughing about one thing or another. Junmyeon would have made fun of the puppy look Jongdae got whenever he saw his new mate, but he knew he had the same expression when it came to Baekhyun, so who was he to judge.

“Jongdae!” Chanyeol boomed, tugging his husband up from his seat, “Come dance with me!”

Jongdae went along willingly with a giggle and a final wink in Junmyeon’s direction, and then it was just the warlock and the demon, sitting at the groom’s table. Kyungsoo was somewhere near the buffet table with Yixing, his date for the evening, and both the grooms’ parents were at the dancefloor.

“Are you having fun?” Junmyeon asked Baekhyun. The boy nodded eagerly, bouncing in his seat. Junmyeon couldn’t help the fond smile forming on his face at the sight. When Baekhyun directed his attention at the newly weds dancing like idiots, Junmyeon took the opportunity to slip the little black box from his pocket and get down in one knee in front of him. When the hall went silent and all eyes turned to him, Baekhyun looked down and gasped cutely, his right hand going up halfway to his hand. 

Junmyeon could swear his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. His hands wouldn’t stop sweating. But even with all that, just looking at the love swimming in Baekhyun’s eyes, he got up the courage he needed to utter those simple words.

“Baekhyun,” Junmyeon said, “Will you marry me?”


End file.
